We shall be Legends
by primary colours123
Summary: Little things make big differences. Whether for better or for worse, it is for the people involved to decide. Non massacre AU. Gen Fic. Team 7.
1. 1 Bhumika

**DISCLAIMER: **I don't own Naruto. It belongs to its owners. This fanfiction is made for entertainment purposes only, and no financial benefit is derived from it. No copyright infringement is intended.

**SUMMARY:** Little things make big differences. Whether for good or bad, it is for the people involved to decide. Non massacre AU. Gen Fic. Team 7.

**Expanded Summary:** A postponed diplomatic mission, a single changed decision, a misaimed Jutsu. Who knew, these little things could completely change the world around. But now, in a very different Konoha, a very different team seven is present. And they won't let any despair touch their motherland. Team seven centric. Non massacre AU.

xXxXxXxXxXx

The day had turned out to be very nice, Hiruzen Sarutobi noted while lying back on his reclining chair. Retired, with an able successor, and free for the whole day. It was just as well that the Daimyo's wife fell ill, and his diplomatic trip to the palace was postponed. Good! Such a day should not be wasted with politics. No, it was time to get some much deserved rest.

He looked up at the calendar: 10th of October.

"Beautiful day." Hiruzen mused, closing his eyes.

He had no idea that he had just started the chain of events which will finally change history completely.

xXxXxXxXxXx

There are a few times in life, when even the best of the best feel doubt, and fear. For Minato Namikaze, the day had not been the day he decided to seal the Kyuubi inside his own son, no, it was today.

He looked up to see the emotionless eyes of the twelve year old boy standing in front of his desk. Face calm, posture perfect, every bit the embodiment of the perfect shinobi.

Minato hated it.

The boy was not supposed to be like this, he was supposed to cry, be afraid, be angry, anything else which a child of twelve would be on hearing this order. But the little boy in front of him was not a child, barely five years older than his own son; he was more of an adult than most people thrice his age. What else could be said of the boy who was looking at him with such calm detachment after getting such an order?

Minato squirmed in his seat. Was this evidence of what Konoha was doing to its own? This was not the future he had wanted when he took on the role of hokage, not the future which lord Sarutobi wanted when he sacrificed himself for sealing the Kyuubi away. The little part of his beloved wife inside him called out to him, and so he did something which finally brought a small measure of emotion on the child's face: surprise. He tore the official order from the elders for Itachi Uchiha to kill his entire clan.

History, by that time, was already twice broken.

xXxXxXxXxXx

Ino Yamanaka had always been told that she would one day be the pride and joy of her clan and it was her duty to carry their name further. She loved the thought, but hated the excess work associated with it. She liked invading other peoples' mind, but why did they have to have such precise theory behind it? Why could they not just be cool without the hard work?

She learnt her lesson the hard way, when, after volunteering as Ino's guinea pig for her mind control Jutsu, her mother fell unconscious for two hours due to her incomplete knowledge about the part of brain to be targeted. The six and a half year old had the biggest scare of her life when she, for the few moments till help arrived, thought her mother to be dead. That day, she resolved to spend her evenings trying to learn the Yamanaka Jutsu, and vowing not to go out to play till she got it absolutely right.

That very evening, a scared six year old, hiding from the bullies ridiculing her wide forehead and pink hair, decided to give in, and hide her hideous self away from everyone, at least that would hurt less.

The third change in history came that day.

xXxXxXxXxXx

**A/N: This was the prologue to my latest attempt at Fanfiction. Sorry for it being very short.**

**I'm trying to portray a team seven with a Naruto with a Father, a Sasuke with an intact (almost) clan, a Sakura without Ino AND a different Sensei. Their trials, trainings and triumphs (and failures). I hope you guys won't find it to be cliché, since I have a bit different views regarding Minato as Father, and the trainings given to teams.**

**All suggestions and comments are welcome. I have tried to keep the grammatical and spellings errors to the minimum, but if you guys find any, please be kind enough to point them out in the reviews.**

**If you guys find my story similar to any already present, please let me know the name of the story, I would really like to read it.**

**If I continue, the updates will be a bit irregular, since I'm in the initial phases of settlement in my career but it will be regularized when I settle down, so please don't mind. If I decide not to continue, I shall be very honoured if someone else would like to do so, and I shall put the notice up, stating it.**

**Thanks for your time.**

**Take care.**


	2. 2 Prateeksha

**DISCLAIMER: **I don't own Naruto. It belongs to its owners. This fanfiction is made for entertainment purposes only, and no financial benefit is derived from it. No copyright infringement is intended.

**SUMMARY:** Little things make big differences. Whether for good or bad, it is for the people involved to decide. Non massacre AU. Gen Fic.

**Timeline:**

Since canon hasn't given any timeline, I'm putting up one to make the story easier to follow, as I shall be continuing the story in the present with an occasional insight into how the past unfolded. I don't expect this timeline to be correct, it is just an assumption.

**1****st**** to 10****th**** year of Konoha – Shodaime rules.**

**11****th**** to 16****th**** year of Konoha – Nidaime rules.**

**17****th**** to 47****th**** year of Konoha – Sandaime rules.**

**48****th**** year of Konoha – Yondaime's rule starts. Kyuubi attacks.**

**49****th**** year of Konoha onwards – Yondaime's rule continues.**

xXxXxXxXxXx

**56****th**** year of Konoha; scheduled time for the Uchiha Massacre.**

Hiashi Hyuuga's mind was reeling. He had just attended the most astonishing meeting of his times with the Hokage. Even the time when he had to sacrifice his twin to save his daughter, paled in comparison to what just happened inside the closed chambers in Hokage towers today.

Fugaku Uchiha, along with a few of his clansmen, had been tried for treason and attempted seize of power.

Hiashi could not say he was particularly surprised. The Uchihas were notorious for their power hungry ideals, and, if he was _very_ honest with himself, they _had_ been discriminated against since the Kyuubi attack. They had been preparing for a very long time, Hiashi straightened himself a bit more, the way they had honed their heirs showed a lot. _"Not that it was of any use in the end"_, he smirked haughtily.

Fugaku had been caught in the planning stage only; the execution scheduled for some months later. Though no names had been mentioned, one of the younger Uchihas was said to be the hokage's spy. The Hokage had put forward the state's case by providing the transcribed records of the Uchiha clan meetings provided by the said boy. The boy could not testify himself, because unfortunately, he had met his end mysteriously just a few weeks prior. The Hokage had stated that despite full efforts, they had been unable to find any clues pointing towards the Uchihas' hand in his death. Still, the whole council had unanimously declared them guilty.

Surprisingly, despite treason being the offence of highest order, Fugaku was not going to be executed. No, instead, almost the entire shinobi council passed the judgment of a life imprisonment over capital punishment. Many reasons had been cited: **from** prevention of an international scandal and commencement of a war with their opportunistic neighbors, if the news broke out, **to** the absence of the actual evidence, as the spy had died before providing tangible proof, **to** keeping the Uchiha clan, and especially their exceptionally dangerous heir, from rebellion.

Hiashi scoffed lightly under his breath, remembering the faces of the other clan leaders around him. All of them had known the real reason, hidden behind those empty words of diplomacy. The real reasons that the Hokage had turned this into a council decision, instead of making the rebellious leaders mysteriously disappear from the face of the earth.

It was not a show of power or trust.

It was a warning.

They all knew that one day it could easily be them instead of the Uchiha, facing the trial.

xXxXxXxXxXx

**60****th**** year of Konoha; present.**

Naruto Namikaze had jokingly referred to this day as the end of the golden era on many previous occasions. But now, when finally faced with the upcoming tomorrow, there was no trace of nostalgia in him. True, the few friends he had made at school, the time he could devote solely to planning and executing pranks and the best methods to finally allow himself to be caught, the various ways he could annoy Iruka sensei, would all be thrown in a loop.

Sitting on top of the great Lord Sandaime's head at the Hokage Mountains, Naruto closed his eyes. From tomorrow he won't have to worry about actually irritating Iruka sensei to the extent that he stops caring for him. From tomorrow he won't have to stay awake at night straining to hear the soft opening and closing of the doors to mark the arrival of his father. From tomorrow he will be an adult in law's and his father's eyes, so no more bodyguards, or _baby sitters_ as he named them. He clenched his teeth at the thought of his "bodyguards", at least from tomorrow; he won't have to hear the insults thrown at him under their breaths.

Maybe, just maybe, he will get people who will take him as something more than a hero; a hero which they could not decide, whether to take pity on, or to be terrified of. Yes, the graduation exams were not quick enough.

But despite his previous statements, Naruto refused to believe this to be the end of a golden era; he had trained himself to only see the beginnings. After these exams, he knew he would be unstoppable. Like every youth stepping out for the first time, he too believed the world to be his oyster. The thoughts of not passing these exams didn't even cross his mind. He opened his eyes and stared at the progressively darkening skies. Then finally, he grinned at the deities above. Now, to return under the watchful eyes of his babysitters, and let them know that he had been missing for the past hour.

Yes, tomorrow was not an end; it was a new day, a new beginning.

xXxXxXxXxXx

Sasuke Uchiha had been born a genius. Having a brother like Itachi had never allowed him to believe in the fact, but he knew he was good. Not genius, but better than the rest. He was sure everyone around him would be expecting him to pass the exams with flying colours. He knew people would believe he had the least to worry among all the beginners.

Sasuke gave out an irritated little sigh, _how little did they know_! He was sure that nobody had to worry about passing as much as him. What if he fails? What would okaa sama say? The elders would be enraged, especially when the _branch Hyuuga_, he thought sulkily, had been the rookie of the year, last time. And this time, if he didn't or, God forbid, the female Hyuuga turned out to be the best, he knew he would never be able to show his face in the clan.

His clan, like every other, had always been very status conscious. He remembered how his father used to push Itachi in front of everyone stating that no clan would ever be able to produce someone like him. He had been extremely jealous of his brother back then, but looking back, he understood. While he wanted nothing more than them to acknowledge him in the same way, his brother wanted nothing more than to be invisible to the world.

He had strived hard to be the top of his year, but he had never been able to underestimate fate. Never since the day; four years ago, when his father, a proud shinobi of Konoha, instead of dying in the battlefield as he always expected to, died due to a heart attack. His okaa san often said that Nature had a funny way of showing people their true worth. So, despite his hard work, there still was a chance for failure. And it was that chance that was making him wary.

Though his mother had banned him from studying anymore on that day and literally forced him to go out and "enjoy", he knew he should return home soon or she would start worrying.

He grimaced, remembering that she never felt the need to worry about Itachi when he was Sasuke's age. True, he was no Itachi, but she should trust him to at least take care of himself. He sullenly started his walk back home.

Had he known how desperately his brother had wanted his mother to worry for him, he would've accepted it a lot more gracefully.

xXxXxXxXxXx

Sakura Haruno was anything but sure about passing the genin exams. She had seen the exams patterns and found that they had changed it this year to make it more challenging. There were theory and practical papers as usual, where it was necessary to pass both of them separately, but with an added stipulation this year that they had to pass in combination as well, where the total passing marks for theory and practicals combination were substantially higher than the individual passing marks. They had given the reason that this will force the students to work harder on at least one aspect.

But Sakura didn't believe them. The pattern had been changed; she gloomily thought, most probably to test the various heirs that were going to give the exams this year. Especially the Namikaze, Uchiha and the Hyuuga heirs. It was just her luck to have been stuck in **"the"** batch of genins. Had her birthday been just a few days later, she would've escaped to the next batch. **And remain struck in the academy for next year anyways,** her inner nastily supplied. Yeah, at least right now there was a chance that she would pass, she thought gloomily.

For as long as she could remember, she knew she had to be a ninja. The stories her mother used to tell of her father; of how despite being a civilian he had been so brave; of how he had risked his own life to inform the authorities of the attack by the Kyuubi; and of how he died, protecting his wife and unborn child from the demon lord. His only wish about his children had been that his first born should become a leaf ninja to honour the land which had so gracefully accepted him. The land where he became one of its own, prospered and met the love of his life.

So Sakura tried, even when people thought she was freaky, even when she had to hide herself to prevent the abuse, even when she had been told that in the world of Ninja, she was a _"No-Last-Name"_, and even when she herself believed she could not do it. She learnt to hide herself better than ever, made herself as inconspicuous as possible, and still had been at the verge of giving up many a times when she realized that however much those books taught her, she would never be able to stand up to the bloodlines and jutsus her batch mates had.

Still she had persisted till now, had she not? And at the last moment, she would not panic and give up.

She stopped her whimpering and got back to her books. She will pass. She was a Haruno, and Harunos were nothing if not honour bound.

**Mizuki sensei would not know what hit him. Cha!**

xXxXxXxXxXx

Iruka Umino was in a good mood. Finally the daunting task of graduation exams was over. Now he could just chuck these new genins on their Jounin sensei and be happy, without anything else to worry till the next exams. And there was no way that the next batch could be even half as terrifying as the present one. With Naruto Namikaze, the Uchiha, Inuzuka and Akimichi heirs in the same class, he doubted anyone could beat this class in rowdiness. And with the future leaders of various clans in the same class, the pressure on the teachers and the 'special' attention from the clans and elders had been immense and overbearing.

Yes, he would definitely breathe easy now. Though he might actually miss them a tiny bit.

A really miniscule bit, Iruka thought when he walked into the class to see Naruto and Sasuke kissing.

Sasuke had, as expected, come top of the class, and Naruto, as expected, at the bottom. Sasuke had been too focused all his time at the academy, and Naruto had never been very academically inclined. But yes, he did surprise Mizuki by his perfect clones. Iruks smiled. Mizuki did not even realize that those had been Shadow Clones and not normal ones, and had to reluctantly pass him. Though he had been really surprised by two other students of the class.

Shikamaru Nara and Sakura Haruno! They both had scores off the charts in theory section, though both had pretty dismal performance in the practical section. Well, Yondaime sama had claimed that the new marking system would force the students to excel in at least one area, and seemed he was right. The whole of class had done better than what they did in class tests. Though the surprising thing about these two was that they had never done particularly well in classes before. He knew personally about Shikamaru and had heard enough from Mizuki about Sakura to know that both of them were very average students before. Both had been extremely inconspicuous till then. Then this sudden improvement? Had they been holding back and had been forced to work well in the theory section to compensate for their poor skills in the practical? Maybe he was just overthinking things.

"Iruka Sensei! Are you here to assign us teams or ogle us?" the loud voice of Kiba was enough to bring him back from his musings. Apparently the boys had finished their.. er business, though Naruto and Sasuke were still looking extremely grossed out, and the girls around were looking at both of them with either hearts in their eyes or nosebleeds. Iruka did not even try to hide his mirth.

After all the teams had been assigned, and _almost all_ senseis had taken their respective pupils away, the newly christened team seven, consisting of Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke, were the only ones left with Iruka in the huge classroom.

"Where is our leader? Everyone else is gone. We have been waiting for five hours already. Did you assign us someone tardy? What kind of sensei is late without information? Huh?" Naruto had already stated whining and by the looks of him, Sasuke was using every bit of his Uchiha pride, to stop himself from joining in. Even Sakura, standing at a distance from the boys, was looking like she would snap anytime now.

Iruka took his own sweet time in finishing his paperwork before answering.

"Oh, your sensei! Which team are you again? Oh team seven, is it? Hehehe! Actually your sensei asked me to tell you all that he won't be able to come today, and that you all should meet him tomorrow morning at 5 at training field no 4."

Before Naruto or Sasuke could protest, Iruka added, "And yes, it would be better for you all if you don't be late. Ok, bye. And best of luck, you all will need it."

Iruka didn't waste any time moving out, leaving three very angry little ninjas behind.

"Iruuuuuukaaa senseiiiii!" Naruto's angry voice followed him in the corridor. Iruka chuckled.

Payback really felt nice.

Maybe he will miss them more than just a tiny bit.

**A/N: I apologize for the delay in updating. Hopefully I shall be much more punctual the next time. This was more of a background chapter, to establish our lead characters. Real action starts with next chapter.**

**I have realized that writing Naruto and Sakura is much harder compared to writing Sasuke. I have no idea why.**

**All comments and suggestions are welcome. Please point out any grammar or spelling error you find in your reviews.**

**Thanks for your time.**

_**The Grey Mage**_**, **_**Snorkabuziaczek, Teenage Crisis, AmethystBlack061, Pink Sonic2**_** and **_**Gloriana The Younger**_**: **_**Thank you all for your encouragements. It means a lot to me.**_

**Take care.**


	3. 3 Mitra

**DISCLAIMER: **I don't own Naruto. It belongs to its owners. This fanfiction is made for entertainment purposes only, and no financial benefit is derived from it. No copyright infringement is intended.

**SUMMARY:** Little things make big differences. Whether for good or bad, it is for the people involved to decide. Non massacre AU. Gen Fic.

**A/N:** I sincerely apologize for the delay. I wish I could say that I was being lazy.

**56****th**** year of Konoha. Uchiha compound, riverside.**

Itachi Uchiha was panting hard and quickly running out of places to hide._ Just hide long enough to formulate a plan._ He had no intention to draw any attention to this fight, and he knew that his opponent was holding back as well, probably with the same thoughts, maybe even more than him. But then, he had never expected this fight to be easy. He quickly started a plan in his mind, crouching low under a tree root. _Pathetic._

The swishing of the air around him was his only warning to crouch even lower before five shurikens embedded themselves with unerring accuracy where Itachi's head had been just a moment ago.

_Had he really thought he would be able to hide from him? In their own playground?_

The impeccable plan suddenly seemed foolhardy to him.

"Come on, bro! Is this all the greatest prodigy of Uchiha clan has? You are embarrassing me as well."

The words were spoken lightly, even affectionately, but Itachi detected hints of anger and pain within them which had never been there before. Of course, this time, even though the place and the people were the same, the situation was not. It was not an all out spar between friends, it was a fight till death between enemies.

Itachi knew that tonight only one of them would come out of this alive.

And he had every intention of being that one.

He steeled himself. He had never given himself to emotions during fight, and this was certainly not the time to start doing so.

_Too much_ rested on the outcome of this. There were only two sides in this war, _and he had chosen his_.

He disappeared to a new spot, and immediately had to duck down to save himself from the incoming swing of the heavy axe. He had never thought himself to be predictable, but maybe, just to this person he was. It was getting more serious by the second. If the axe had been taken out for the play, he had to get serious too.

Ducking a few more times under the swings of the axe, Itachi picked up his fallen ANBU sword, and raised his eyes to face the man, who was more responsible for Itachi's sanity than anyone else.

Sharingan clashed with Sharingan.

Shisui Uchiha raised his axe above his head and brought it down on his opponent, who had no problems countering it with his own blade. He uttered just one word, mildly, as if asking himself, though he had no doubts his opponent heard him clearly.

"Why?"

"_Why them?" "Why this?" "Why here?" "Why now, when they were so close to their objectives?"_

"_Why the betrayal?"_

Itachi used a bit of his chakra to spring away from Shisui and his axe. He knew Shisui and his axe could not be overcome with the amount of Kenjutsu in his arsenal. He will have to get down to what he does best: Genjutsu. And they would be perfect for keeping this fight as inconspicuous as possible.

Itachi's sharingan spinned and Shisui stilled. His eyes went wide and glazed over. Itachi had no idea how long the hold will last. He took out his chakra strings. Once he has rendered him completely immobile, only then he will risk nearing his cousin. The chakra strings shot out from his fingers and wrapped around his still immobile cousin. Satisfied that he had controlled his cousin's chakra completely, and after confirming it with his sharingan, he moved near him. The dominant part of his mind was screaming at him to finish him off first, but he _did not_ want to, _could not_, let his cousin go away without any answers.

He knew it was becoming a pathological need inside him to justify himself, to anyone, and especially to Shisui, that he was _not_ a monster, he had reasons for what he was doing, and was going to do.

Itachi touched his cousin's face. It was still slack, and cold.

"I'm sorry, nii san."

"_Don't be."_ The wind whispered and Itachi froze, a blade made of rock poised at his jugular.

xXxXxXxXxXx

**60****th**** year of Konoha. Present.**

Sasuke Uchiha found himself at the training ground 4 half an hour before the stipulated time of 5 am. Finding himself to be the only one there, he propped himself along one of the trees and closed his eyes. The mystery of their team's sensei had still not been solved. Their sensei was the only one who had not been announced yesterday, but the tone of reverence in Iruka Sensei's voice had indicated that he was someone to be admired. And Sasuke had enough confidence in Iruka sensei to be assured that his admiration was never wasted. At least he hoped it was a '_he_' since now that he was thinking about it, Iruka sensei had not said anything that might have indicated the gender of their sensei. _Imagine if it was a woman._ Sasuke shivered involuntarily. The few Kunoichis he had met before, his mother included, had always elicited a response of terror from him. _Especially the one in chainmails_._ No, no, no, it had to be a male._

An uncomfortable sensation of being watched made him open his eyes in haste, only to find the weird girl who was supposed to be his team mate staring at him from the nearby tree. _How did she come so near without him noticing? _Realizing that she had been caught, she turned away hastily, face heavily flushed. He tried to recall her name. _**Sakura Haruno**_. Someone he had not even seen around, therefore was most probably in the idiot Mizuki's class. Dressed in red shirt with a white circle on the back and long green pants, with a red scarf tied around her head, she would've been hard to miss otherwise. But then, he had not seen her around the school either, which was strange, considering all classes had their lunch together.

Yesterday none of them had tried to introduce themselves despite being confined in the same room for five hours. He knew he had never been social, or rather never been allowed to. It was a hallmark of all higher up clans "unsocial and proud", Sasuke mentally snorted. First before his death, the thought of approval from his father was enough to maintain his distance from the others. And after, Sasuke grimaced, everything changed. And Namikaze had looked so pensive in the class, looking around and bugging Iruka Sensei only half heartedly. Maybe he could understand even that, that place had been his sanctuary away from his clan as well. But the Haruno had been quiet; in fact, quiet enough that nobody who did not know would have noted her there. She had just lurked in the background, looking over everything with her strange eyes.

She had strange green eyes which he had never seen in Konoha. _Was she a foreigner?_ But the circle on her back symbolized she was indeed one of the Harunos, a wealthy, small, _civilian_ clan. _No wonder_, Sasuke smirked, _she was dressed in all red._ Only a civilian born Nin would be stupid enough not to realize that red makes you much more visible than a ninja should be. Seriously, she had to be the most visible nin around.

BAM!

A loud crash again roused Sasuke from his musings_, he made a mental note to be more aware of his surroundings_, and he turned his head to find his second team mate sprawled on the ground where he seemed to have landed directly from the sky. _How did that happen?_

Sasuke almost took back the last statement he had made about Haruno, as he scrutinized the new arrival. _**This**_ had to be the most visible ninja around. _Who wears NEON ORANGE as their nin uniforms?_ That was like running around with _'please kill'_ written on his forehead. But then, Haruno had a _target_ painted on her back. Sasuke sighed. Till yesterday the idiot brat had been wearing normal clothes. Did the shock of actually passing unhinge him that much? Fate had dashed all his hopes for his team. _Namikaze?_ He had hoped that the boy had actually gained some useful knowledge from the Genius father of his, so that he passed. He had not been in the position to pass the last time he demonstrated his skills in class. But now it appeared that being the Hokage's son has been more of an influence on that decision.

"Oh man! I shouldn't have asked them to throw me from that far off. Still, made it in time with two minutes to spare! Wow." Rising up, he dusted himself while muttering, when he noticed two pairs of eyes on him. Immediately, his face lit up with a thousand watt smile and he bowed slightly, "Whats up guys? One and only, Naruto Namikaze, at your service, 'ttebayo."

This seemed to rouse Haruno from the smile induced stupor, and she hastily bowed, "I am Sakura Haruno. Pleased to meet you, er… both."

Sasuke, realizing his grave social error, bowed as well, muttering, "Sasuke Uchiha. Pleasure."

Naruto had acknowledged Sasuke's presence by a mere wave of his hand and a muttering of "Yeah, yeah the resident snob. Who doesn't know _you_?" His eyes, however, were fixed on Sakura, who seemed to fidget under his gaze. For every step Naruto took forward, Sakura took a step backward. They finally stopped when Sakura's back touched the trunk of a tree. Sasuke had a very bad feeling about this.

"Are you by any chance a witch? 'Cause your eyes have me totally bewitched!"

The next second saw Naruto again sprawled on the ground, some ten feet away, _this time Sasuke actually saw him fly,_ and Sakura looking extremely amazed over both his and her own daring. Naruto again got up and started dusting himself, all the while grumbling sulkily under his breath. Sasuke caught the words 'stupid', 'useless novels' and 'hokage's desk' and decided he_ really_ did not want to know. Sakura, on his other side was trying to hide behind the tree trunk.

_Great,_ Sasuke thought, _two Idiots on his team. One in orange, the other in red, and both apparently bipolar_. Fate should really grant him an _exceptional _sensei just to balance them out.

Fate seemed to be listening to him very intently as the very next second his sensei materialized out of thin air in front of them with an accompanying shriek from,_ surprisingly_, Sakura.

"_Uchiha freaking Itachi?"_

"Thanks for the reminder Haruno san, though I presume you got my middle name a bit mixed up."

Sasuke paled.

xXxXxXxXxXx

Minato Namikaze was having trouble concentrating on the vast amount of paperwork still left. His son was now an official Konoha genin. He picked up an old photograph from his desk and smiled at the woman grinning at the camera. _Just like Naruto._ She would have been proud, so proud. And prouder still if she had seen his choice of clothing. _Orange, eh Kushina?_ He was sure Itachi was going to have a heart attack after seeing Naruto in his choice of Nin attire.

Initially he had been skeptical about letting Itachi handle a team of his own when he himself was so young, and unwilling. In fact before the Uchiha clan insisted on having Itachi as the leader of that particular team, he had thought of another person. Who was currently perched on the tree outside the window.

"Come on in Kakashi! I promise not to snatch the latest edition of your book. I have special limited edition signed by sensei himself… for both of us."

A bruised and battered Kakashi trembled inside the tower faster than lightening. "Why did you not say so before, sensei? Do you know how bloodthirsty can the civilians be to get their porn?"

"The great copy ninja defeated by a horde of porn obsessed fangirls. Don't let the Iwa nins hear that Kakashi."

"Very funny sensei. At least I don't abuse my authority." Minato's smile faded at the statement.

"Sometimes I think I don't have any authority." Kakashi frowned.

"What's bugging you? And don't stall, I won't quit till I know."

"Blunt as always Kakashi? But tact never was your strong point." Minato sighed. "Today is the final test for the new genins. And I have no idea what new havoc Naruto will create today. Itachi is not the most social person I know. How will he handle them?"

"Better him than me!" Kakashi hastily carried on at Minato's raised eyebrow. "Don't worry sensei, Itachi has been trained to handle anything. You know how important his brother is for him. The Uchiha clan will allow Sasuke to remain on a team only if Itachi teaches, so he will have to manage. And Itachi has a reputation for being professional to the core. Moreover, Naruto can charm anyone."

"It's not Itachi I'm worried about. He is fair. I… don't know how Naruto will react to him. There are so many things which I've regretted in our relationship. I…I don't want this to be one of them. He would've really liked you as his teacher."

"Maybe he would have. In fact, I would like to think he would." Kakashi gave a distant smile. "But to be honest, I know I would not have made a good teacher. I would have been too biased, either towards your son, or Obito's nephew." Kakashi's smile turned into a mischievous grin. "And, I can't handle children. We both know my expertise lies in a different field."

Minato returned the grin with his own, "Oh, I shall remember that the next time I have to give you a partner. Anko will _love_ to use your expertise."

Kakashi's horrified expression was exactly what he needed to lift his mood.

xXxXxXxXxXx

Itachi surveyed the three stoo… er genins from under his lashes. His welcome committee had already shown how unprepared the three were for the job. Sasuke was still gaping at him like a dead fish, the girl was trying to create a new shade of violent red on her cheeks and Namikaze was, for whatever reasons, looking as if Christmas came early. _Was he that appealing?_

And why was Sasuke wearing _**white**_ with contrasting bright blue? _Did he want to advertise his bums as the perfect target?_ Seriously, the idiocy of Uchiha clan never failed to amaze him. Though the other two were scarcely better.

Outwardly, Itachi maintained his infamous stoic façade. He will have plenty of time to point out their mistakes. First, he had a test to conduct. And though the Uchiha clan had ordered him to pass Sasuke,_ as it won't look good for the heir to fail in his first test_, he had no intentions of making it easy for them. These three will pass only if they deserved it. _When was the clan going to learn that they have no influence on him?_ Itachi scowled. _In their minds he was still the perfect little Uchiha, who killed the traitor for his clan._

"I am Itachi Uchiha." Itachi made a slight bow. "Your Jounin leader. You all shall address me as Itachi. I know all your names, so formal introduction is not going to be necessary. But whether we shall get better acquainted shall be decided by a simple exercise. Those who successfully perform this will stay here as a genin, rest shall return back to the academy for the refresher course. This is traditionally given to every genin team on graduation. And only a third pass every year."

The wide eyed look on each of their faces assured Itachi that he had their full attention.

"Well, since there seem to be no queries on your parts…"

That seemed to bring all three genins out of their awe inspired speechlessness. Together.

"A third? But we were never told…"

"What do you mean refresher course? Do you know how hard I worked to pass the first time?"

"What do we have to do?"

"Okay. To answer you all: Yes Sasuke, just a third. You should be prepared for any eventuality as a ninja. No Naruto, I prefer having the first hand experience of your hard work. I'm sure you would love to demonstrate. And Sakura, excellent question."

"We" Itachi's tone was grave, and all the genins looked scared to various degrees, "shall be playing a game of 'Hide and Seek', and I shall be the seeker."

There was absolute silence for a minute and then "WHAT? Are you JOKING?"

"No Naruto I am not joking." Itachi looked at all of them, "You all will soon find out that even the simplest things, given the right conditions, may be the hardest to achieve. Your first assignment as a team shall be to hide from me for 30 minutes. As soon as I catch you, you are out of the running. You can use any weapon in your arsenal, and can use this whole training ground. The people managing to evade me till half an hour would pass. I hope you all understood the mission details perfectly."

In between the mission briefing Naruto managed to give Sasuke a look that clearly said "_Is he out of his mind?"_ and Sasuke managed to look as apologetic as he could. Sakura raised her hand.

"And those who don't… evade you, I mean?" Itachi looked at her and she fidgeted slightly.

"Do I really need to answer that Sakura? So, no more questions? Good! You will have ten minutes to conference and hide, and then I'll come after you. So… go." With that Itachi disappeared from the clearing without any trace.

xXxXxXxXxXx

Naruto looked around. Sasuke was looking even paler than usual, and now, Naruto could sympathize with him. Having such a weird brother might lead to anyone becoming slightly insane and consequently not fit for proper social behavior. He will have to give him a benefit of doubt. Sakura was looking contemplative.

"What's up Sakura chan? The snob doesn't look capable of thinking currently, so what do you say? Is Itachi slightly unhinged or completely?"

Sakura started as if suddenly noticing that she was not alone. And if she noted his usage of the suffix behind her name, she kept it to herself.

"Uh, why are you asking me? We have to survive individually. So we just have to find a place to hide and pray Itachi doesn't find us. That is the only way." She spoke very fast and Naruto noted that she carefully avoided eye contact with them. Instead, preferring to talk to the empty space a few inches above their head.

By now the snob had recovered enough to show off his superiority, "Are you implying that we might be able to finish the challenge? Any of us? My brother used to trap my father in his handmade tricks when I had not even been born. _Ma was right, fate just loves to screw people up._" He grumbled the last words under his breath.

"Is it possible that he is looking from somewhere to see where we go?" Naruto said while discreetly trying to survey the sidelines.

"Trust me, he is not. He just doesn't need to. The only thing I can tell you is that he is very tricky, and all of us are doomed."

"But I can't afford to fail. I have to earn their respect, not their pity." Naruto could feel the others looking at him, but he did not bother to explain his statement.

"You think I can? My clan will flay me alive."

"Um, may I make a suggestion? Itachi said our first mission 'as a team'. If we do this together?" Sakura again looked very uncomfortable with their eyes on her.

"But even then, there is little chance that all of us, or any of us, will pass."

"Still that chance would be better than the alternative. Do you have a better idea,_ clan boy_?"

"Don't call me that. But I guess she is right." Naruto noted very slight blush on Sakura at this statement, _maybe she was not used to praises_. "Moreover, I don't think there is any provision for passing just one or two members of a team. I've never seen a two member team. It's always three."

"Can't it be that they regroup all the passing members from various teams and make new ones?"

Sakura appeared to be waiting for Sasuke to contradict him, but when he appeared to be agreeing with Naruto, Sakura spoke up. Naruto again noted her discomfort in taking up the centerstage.

"That seems highly unlikely. That means every year the number of genins passing the field test have to be exactly divisible by three to get even teams. Moreover, the manpower needed to do the reshuffling would be wastage of resources. I think it would be easier, to either pass or fail the team as a whole. Why do you think he gave us conferencing time?"

"That is the best we can hope for right now. So who among us can hide the best? The other two will be distracting him for half an hour."

"How are we going to do that? All my jutsus are known to him, Haruno won't know anything beyond what is taught in the academy, and you doing any jutsu properly would be a miracle in itself. Maybe you can startle him to death by doing just that."

"Why Uchiha, do they _teach_ snobbery in your clan? Don't talk about Sakura chan as if she is not here. And I've heard that Sandaime sama always said that it does not matter how much skill you have, what matters is how you use it. We may still win." Though Naruto noted that Sakura didn't react to Sasuke's comment with anything other than a frown.

Uchiha Sasuke raised an elegant eyebrow at the statement, and it looked as if he was going to challenge him, but apparently thought better of it, maybe deciding to utilize the time left in a fruitful manner.

"We have exactly 7 minutes left to make a plan and hide. So who wants to face him off first?"

When Sasuke and Sakura both started contributing ideas, Naruto grinned. He had been worried about his team. Placed on a team with an overachieving Uchiha and a girl he knew nothing about, he had not known what to expect. But here with them he saw that Uchiha, however reluctant he tried to be, _(Naruto could see straight through him)_ would work with them when required, and though Sakura was silent, she was smart, _and had very pretty eyes_. And neither of them was either in awe of him for being the Yondaime's son, or disgusted with him for not being a genius like him. He even had Itachi Uchiha for his team leader. He was worried it would be someone from his father's close group and again he would be singled out. So what if he had weird ideas about team tests and looked scary with the expressionless face? _Were we not all a bit insane?_

As for their social problems, Naruto was sure he could help them out.

He joined the planning. He wanted this team to survive.

_They better pass._

**A/N: The Itachi and Shisui fight was getting too huge for this chapter, so I divided it in two. The next part would be in some other chapter.**

**I wished to show the mentality of the lead characters here, with a bit more background information.**

**Again, writing Sasuke was the easiest.**

**I wish to ask for your help for the fighting scenes, as I am not very creative with them. So your suggestions will be highly welcome.**

**I haven't had much time to write, so the chapter is unedited. I sincerely apologize for any mistakes, and I shall try to correct them.**

**All comments and suggestions are welcome. Please point out any grammar or spelling error you find in your reviews.**

**Thanks for your time.**

thepheonixa6feindspy: thank you. Yes they are. You understand the language as well? Cool!

the grey mage: thank you. I can see what you are pointing out. My Sakura, has become a bit socially withdrawn, but she is not exactly like the canon Sasuke. In real world, she would be more like a geek, than an emo. Though hope you like this version too.

Rosenkreuz Orden: thank you. I hope you enjoy this chapter too.

angel897: thank you. Yes, Sakura will definitely get stronger. I hope to do it in a realistic manner, where hard work really scores above natural talent. Hope you will like it.

ylfrettub: thank you. I hope I shall be able to update faster.

**Take care.**


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